Toxic bait aversions in different rat strains exposed to an acute rodenticide

Because laboratory strains of rat (Rattus norwegicus) are most often used to develop rodenticides, it is not known whether aversions to rodenticides are developed similarly by wild and domesticated strains. Thus, we studied and assessed the relative aversions of wild and domesticated rats to food pe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of wildlife management 1993-07, Vol.57 (3), p.640-647
Main Authors: Shepherd, D.S, Inglis, I.R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal ethology
AVOIDANCE CONDITIONING
Baits
BEHAVIOUR
Biological and medical sciences
COMPORTAMIENTO
COMPORTEMENT
Dosage
Experimentation
Food
Food consumption
FOSFORO DE CINC
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Mammalia
Pesticides
Phosphides
PHOSPHURE DE ZINC
Poisons
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
RAT
RATA
RATS
RATTUS NORVEGICUS
Response rates
RODENTICIDAS
RODENTICIDE
RODENTICIDES
Rodents
SUBSTANCE TOXIQUE
SUSTANCIAS TOXICAS
TOXIC SUBSTANCES
Toxicity
Vertebrata
Zinc
ZINC PHOSPHIDE
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Summary:Because laboratory strains of rat (Rattus norwegicus) are most often used to develop rodenticides, it is not known whether aversions to rodenticides are developed similarly by wild and domesticated strains. Thus, we studied and assessed the relative aversions of wild and domesticated rats to food pellets containing the acute rodenticide zinc phosphide under long-term, self-maintenance conditions. Our animals were housed in cages equipped with 2 operant levers by which food pellets could be obtained continuously. Over a 12-hour period, food pellets containing the rodenticide were available from one of the dispensers. Subsequently, untreated pellets were again made available from that dispenser. We repeated these procedures 1 week, 4 weeks, and 34 weeks later. Lever pressing rates, lever preference, and pellet consumption preference indicated that wild and domesticated rats formed a long-lasting aversion to food pellets containing zinc phosphide after only brief exposure to a poisoned food source that usually provided a similar but harmless diet. Wild rats were superior in their ability to discriminate the rodenticide pellets, to redirect their food-seeking behavior to a safe source, and to retain the aversion over a long period. Our data suggest that it would be unwise to assume that rodenticides that do not produce "poison-shyness" in domesticated rats will be equally successful on wild rats in the field.
ISSN:0022-541X
1937-2817
DOI:10.2307/3809294